How To Steal A Fae's Boyfriend
by professionalprimadonna
Summary: Tam Lin, but with the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Rewritten"-characters, everyone is gay and Utterson is a trans man. Warning: Sexual coersion, physical and emotional abuse and abduction.


Gabriel had heard the stories, of course he had.

Of course he had heard the warning, that he shouldn't go there without bringing a cloak or ring as a token, lest something _entirely else _would be taken from him.

But being a young man in the 21st century, he had thought it was just old folk tales.

Who the hell took a green cloak or a ring to a forest, just for the purpose of leaving it there?

And so he had thought nothing of it, when he had gone into the woods of Carterhaugh without bringing either.

It was his property, after all. His family had acquired the surrounding lands and given the woods to him.

So here he was, walking through the woods with nothing but a book, a pocketknife (you never knew) and his smartphone, when he saw something odd: a saddled white steed was grassing at a well, generally minding her own business. But where was her owner?

Hesitantly, he stepped closer to the horse.

She wasn't disturbed by his presence and stood completely still, when he gently petted her and examined the saddle and bridal. Such a magnificent creature.

But the saddle and bridal looked so elaborate and fancy, they couldn't be from anywhere nearby. Actually, he had never seen anything like it.

_Strange_, he thought and decided to walk further into the woods. Perhaps he could find the person the steed belonged to.

But when he looked around, it was already dusk.

Huh. Had he really been here for that long?

He changed his mind and turned to go home.

After walking for a few minutes, he stumbled over a path where wild roses grew.

_That wasn't here before …_

Normally Gabriel wasn't the rose type of guy.

But never before had he seen anything like this. They were so ineffably beautiful, bright and radiant, that he had to take a closer look.

One particularly caught his eye; a white double-headed rose.

_This one would be beautiful in my home_, he thought, pulled out his pocketknife and carefully cut it off the bush.

But before he could tug it into his jacket, someone cleared their throat behind him.

He gasped in shock and whirled around.

There stood an otherworldly handsome young man dressed in green.

He was tall, well-built, broad-shouldered, had wheat blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. His skin was paler than his own, but not too much, just that perfect, healthy and rosy complexion.

The young man was frowning.

"What are you doing here in Carterhaugh forest?", he asked in the most gorgeous voice Gabriel had ever heard. "How dare you cut off the roses? Haven't you heard the stories?"

The black-haired man could only blush and stutter.

After a while, the blond seemed to grow impatient. "Can you articulate yourself, please? I would like an explanation as to why you strolled in here like you own the place."

Now Gabriel finally pulled himself together.

"Actually, I _do_ own the place. My parents bought the land and gave the woods to me", he informed the other man calmly. "And therefore, I don't see why I should need _your_ permission to be here."

The handsome stranger shrugged indifferently. "Really now. Well, I regret to inform you, that this is _my_ realm and the laws of this world mean little to me. Now, tell me … did you know the story or no?"

"You mean the story of Tam Lin? Yes, but I assumed that, if they were true, he would be straight. And I'm not a girl."

The blond shook his head and laughed (the loveliest laugh Gabriel had ever heard, but that wasn't the point): "As you can see, I'm very real. And I don't care about what your sex is."

This was just surreal.

He was talking to a folk tale character, who turned out to be – waaaaaiiiitaminute!

"Okay, hold it! Just to make this clear: I just stepped into a magical forest, you're Tam Lin and because I didn't bring a ring or a green cloak – whatever you need them for – I won't get out of here, before you get _something else_ from me?!"

"Pretty much."

Normally, the black-haired man would've thought this was just a sick joke.

But the person in front of him obviously wasn't of this world. The entire forest wasn't normal and the roses definitely weren't. It was so plain that even a sceptic like him had to acknowledge it. So in other words, he was trapped in some kind of magical forest with someone who wouldn't let him go, unless-

The stranger, seeming to sense his discomfort, spoke up, "Listen, Gabriel John Utterson-"

_He knows my name?!_

"-how about you give me your smartphone instead? Then you come back tomorrow with a ring or cloak to get it back? I believe, that you thought it was just old tales, but this is still a faerie forest. I can't let you go without a tribute of _some_ kind. And the phone is the second most precious thing you have, after your innocence."

"How do you know about smartphones anyway?"

The blond shrugged. "You'd be surprised at how up to date the Fae are. Makes it easier for them to mess with humans these days."

"Oh, okay. And I really can't get out of here without leaving anything?"

"Well, you can try, but this forest is enchanted, so you'd just keep running in circles."

Gabriel thought for a moment.

It was nice of the ghost/elf/faerie/whatever he was to try and accommodate him.

But there was something about that guy that awakened something in him.

"You know what? Screw it. Off with your clothes, you virginity-stealing creep! Chop-chop, I don't have all night!"

"W-wait, what?!"

"You heard me!", he snapped and began to undress. "Now hurry up. I'm a gay, frustrated 23-years-old, you're hot and I don't like the folks around here!"

"Honestly, this is unexpected. No one has ever actually-"

"Well, it's about time then, isn't it?", Gabriel snapped and threw away his shirt, "Now what part of 'I don't have all night' did you not understand? I'm a lawyer, I have to go to work early tomorrow!"

Tam Lin – or whatever that man's name was – chuckled and began to take off his own clothes.

"Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think you came here because of the legend."

"If _I_ had known that this forest actually _was_ haunted by a sexy ghost, I would have!"

Tam Lin snorted: "You wouldn't be the first. But …"

Gabriel felt his cheeks heat up, when the blond's chocolate brown eyes wandered up and down his body. And he felt a little uncomfortable, when they lingered on the chest binder he was still wearing.

"You're the loveliest person I've ever met."

"R-really? So you don't mind that I'm-?"

"Did I call you by your dead name?", the blond replied and shook his head. "No. If you identify as a man, you're a man. Whether your biology corresponds with that or not doesn't matter."

Gabriel felt a lump in his throat and swallowed it.

"This is fine", he whispered hoarsely, took off the binder and lay down.

"Certainly is", Tam Lin agreed and followed.

Gabriel shuddered, when the other let his hands wander over his tanned skin.

"You really are quite handsome", the blond murmured.

The black-haired man smiled and dared to steal a kiss.

…

"Wow", Gabriel breathed, when they were done and getting dressed. "This was wonderful! If that's what I get for coming here without a token, I should do it more often. Uhm …" he blushed awkwardly. "… You wouldn't mind, right?"

"I …" To his surprise Tam Lin also blushed. "I would love to see you again", he admitted quietly and took his hand.

…

When Gabriel went home, he felt like he was walking on air.

Never in his life had he been so happy and he wondered, if this could be love.

Later, as he lay in bed and the flowers were in vases, he thought about what had happened today.

He fell asleep smiling and remembering what the elven knight had said, when they had parted.

"_You're the only rose that still grows fairer after being plucked."_

_How theatrical …_

…

When he returned to the enchanted glen, Tam Lin was waiting for him.

After spending an hour of passion, they sat beside each other at the well and talked, while the white steed was grassing nearby.

He went home with another bouquet of flowers and feeling just as blissful as the first time.

In the following weeks, he continued to see the mysterious blond.

He found himself falling for him more and more.

But then things became problematic.

First off, Tam Lin listened with interest, when Gabriel talked about himself. But he became oddly cagey, when the black-haired man asked him to talk about himself too.

Why was the blond so secretive?

Worse, his father and grandmother had noticed that something was up and now they wouldn't leave him alone about who "the lucky guy" was. But how was he supposed to tell them that he was sleeping with a mysterious elf from a haunted forest? Not to mention, when he knew next to nothing about him?

What was their relationship status anyway? Were they dating? Or was he just a fling to the other man?

Damn, he didn't like how uncertain everything was!

And to add insult to injury, he hadn't thought about using contraceptive measure and guess what, he was pregnant! How could he have been so careless?! Now he was carrying a child he wasn't ready for!

He cursed his own stupidity and desperately hoped, that no one would find out.

…

Of course he wasn't that lucky.

It was Sunday, 31st October, when his father found out.

To Mr. Utterson's credit, he didn't freak out as much as Gabriel had feared. Instead he just took a deep breath and demanded to know who was responsible for this.

That made Gabriel really angry. "The only one who's responsible for this baby is _me_! Oh, and my boyfriend who lives in the woods."

"What?!"

After an argument, he persuaded his father not to press charges.

("I'm going to call a lawyer!" - "Dad, _I_ _am_ that lawyer!" - "Oh. Right.")

But now he was upset and needed to be somewhere else. So he ran back to Carterhaugh and somehow ended up in the enchanted glen, as usual. There he crawled behind a rose bush and cried.

This was just too much.

He was a pregnant man, who wasn't prepared to care for a child, the entire situation was just so muddled and he didn't know what to do!

Although … there was an emergency exit, he suddenly realised.

He had been sleeping with Tam Lin for about two months, so he could be no further on than that.

It wasn't too late for a safe abortion …

"Wait, please."

He jumped, when Tam Lin appeared before him.

"Gabriel", the blond said gently and crouched down before him, "I know that you're desperate and overwhelmed, but please consider; it's my child just as much as it's yours."

"You can say that so easily", he sobbed, "You're not the one carrying the baby! You could just as well run off and pretend that you never knocked up some unfortunate human, while I'd be stuck with a child I wasn't ready for! You can go off to faerie land and do whatever elves or faeries do, but I can't work as a lawyer _and_ take care of a baby all by myself! And what will I say, when they ask me who the father is? That it's some elf bloke from an enchanted forest, who will never be with me, because I'm just some insignificant human, who will grow old and die?!"

The blond looked beyond hurt. "Is that what you think of me?", he asked in disbelief, "Do you really think that I would be so heartless and irresponsible?!"

"I don't know!", Gabriel wailed. "I don't know _anything_ about you! Not even your real name! You can't convince me that Tam Lin is actually your name! I'm pregnant and the father is a man I know nothing about, because he never bothered to tell me anything about himself!"

Tam Lin was silent for a while. But he looked so sad, that the black-haired man almost regretted snapping at him. Almost. Gabriel was in the right and they both knew it.

"You're right", the blond finally sighed. "I should have been more open. But I chose to be a coward instead and kept my mouth shut, because I feared that you would be disgusted and want nothing more to do with me."

Gabriel stared at him. "What gave you that idea?"

The blond sat down next to him. "You will understand, once I have told you my story.

First you need to know that I'm not actually an elf or faerie, like you thought. I'm human like you. I'm not even the first Tam Lin to haunt these woods. Although that should be clear, because the legend is older than I.

My real name is – _was_ – Henry Jekyll. I was a medical student and my lifestyle was … well, not exactly proper. When my parents found out that I had slept with both men and women, they threw me out. I needed a while to find a steady place to live and it happened to be the farm you live on now. Then WWI happened, I was sent off to France and returned to Scotland as a shell shocked* war veteran.

One year after the war ended, I was taking a stroll through the woods and decided, that climbing that oak over there would be a good idea (don't ask). And wouldn't you know it, I fell off and right into the arms of the Queen of the Fae, who took me to the kingdom under the hill, where the Fae live. He (and yes, the Queen is a _he_) made me his consort and named me after the real Tam Lin, to loosen my ties to the human world. Do you see the ring on my finger? It's a magical chain. As long as I belong to him, it won't come off.

You know, Gabriel, most people have a completely wrong image of faeries. They're not like those cute tiny pixies from children's books. Even the more benevolent Fae are dangerous and the ones I live with _aren't_ benevolent. They are Unseelies**, mischievous at best and outright evil at worst. They assault humans and make them suffer for their entertainment. And if they like one, they steal them away and keep them as slaves for all eternity. Mostly children, because they're purer and easier to lure."

"But the Queen of the Fae is one of the nicer ones, right?", Gabriel asked hopefully.

Tam Lin – no, Henry Jekyll – stared at him.

Then he broke into a horrible cackle: "One of the nicer ones?! Him! I've been there for a century and I never met a faerie worse than him! He has hundreds of child slaves and abuses them to his heart's content – that is, if he _had_ a heart! One day we went on a walk and there was a big puddle. Of course he didn't want to get his robes dirty. And do you know what he did?! He ordered a 9-year-old boy to lay down and make a bridge, and then he just walked over him! And he was going to do it again, when we went back on the same path. But I lay down and had him walk over me instead. Then I called him out and he would have struck me, if the Queen Dowager hadn't stepped in. She's one of the less malevolent Unseelies and the only one he respects."

Gabriel gasped in horror. "That's awful", he whispered. "Oh my god!"

Henry sighed and continued: "Yeah. Well, I guess he was somewhat impressed, because he stopped with the child trampling altogether. The upside is that I can use my privileges to try to be a good influence on him. I try my best to be kind to him, because … well, there _must_ be a reason why he is like that. But he never lets me forget that I'm just a toy to him. And do you know what the sickest part of this is? I like it. The way he smirks at me, talks to me, touches me, makes me melt like butter. When I share his bed, he bites me, scratches me, bruises me and whispers hurtful things into my ear and I can't get enough of it.

At first I thought that he had bewitched me. But when I confronted him, he laughed and said that it wasn't necessary, I'm just that corrupted. I didn't want to believe it, but the Fae don't lie, not even the evil ones. That's their _one_ redeeming quality."

Gabriel felt his heart ache and touched the other's cheek. "I'm sure, it's not true", he tried to comfort him, "He just said that to hurt you. I've seen that kind of people, they know how to take away people's sense of self-worth."

Henry just lowered his head. "It doesn't matter. After being there for a hundred years, I'm starting to forget who I was. The Queen Dowager told me that I can be saved, as long as I preserve my humanity by remembering who I am. But there are so many things I _want_ to forget and the more faerie-like I become, the more power the Queen holds over me.

Anyway, I had come to terms with spending eternity as his slave. But then I found out, that the Fae have some sort of obligation. Every seven years on Halloween, they pay a tithe to hell. Of course they won't sacrifice one of their own, if they have humans to use instead. This year _I'll_ be the sacrifice. When I found out, I didn't even care, because hell can't be much worse than my life so far. But then … then I met _you_."

The blond smiled at him so tenderly, that he felt his heart flutter and his stomach went fuzzy (and not from nausea).

"I've never met someone like you before. You walked into my life and it was as if the sun was rising for me. Suddenly I had someone waiting for me here and something to look forward to. You made me feel warm, at peace and most of all … you made me feel _loved_."

His smile faded. "That's why I was afraid of telling you the truth. That the man you have slept with – the father of your child – is the whore of a psychopathic Fae Queen and will be sacrificed to hell tonight. Can you still look me in the eyes and say that you're not disgusted?"

Gabriel cupped his face and looked him dead in the eyes.

"I'm not disgusted. Why would I be? No one deserves this kind of life. And how could I not want to have anything to do with you? I never knew that I needed someone else in my life, until I met you. You make me happier than I've ever been. What you just told me changes nothing about this. Actually, it just makes me want you more. I will keep our child, but only if I can have you too. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, make you feel happy, safe and loved. I love you, Henry Jekyll."

He was surprised at how easily those words came out of his mouth.

But it was the honest truth.

Henry stared at him. Then he burst into tears and hugged him tightly.

…

"We have to figure something out quickly", Gabriel spoke up, when they both had calmed down enough. "You will _not_ be sacrificed to hell tonight! There must be a way to prevent this!"

The blond thought for a moment. "Hmm … now that I think about it, there _is_ a way for you to win me."

Gabriel's sky blue eyes filled with determination. "Tell me."

"Alright", Henry said seriously, "Listen closely …"

…

After a short trip home, he had come back to wait for the faerie procession.

Now he was hidden between the bushes, wearing a green coat he had borrowed from his father.

He was incredibly tense.

When was it finally midnight?

Couldn't the procession show up already?

Well, at least it wasn't raining.

At last green lights appeared at the end of the path and grew bigger.

The procession had arrived.

_Finally!_

He crept behind a bush and got into position.

Figures came into view.

In the front, a small, dark-haired faerie with a crown, riding a black horse.

The next was a yellow-haired faerie on a brown horse.

But he ignored them and concentrated on the man riding the white steed.

Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of the saddle.

The two riders before him whirled around, when Henry yelped in shock.

When the dark-haired faerie saw, that Gabriel was holding the blond in his arms, he screeched in outrage: "HOW DARE YOU TAKE WHAT'S MINE!"

And promptly transformed the man in Gabriel's arms into a lizard.

Then a snake.

Then a bear.

Then a lion.

But all the while Gabriel remembered what Henry had told him:

"_As I'm the father of your child, there will be no way for me to harm you. So whatever they turn me into, don't let go. You have nothing to fear."_

So he didn't let go, not even when the Queen of the Fae turned his lover into a chunk of red-hot iron. It was only when the Queen turned him into a blazing flame, that he promptly dumped him into a conveniently located well nearby.

Now Henry emerged from the water as himself, but naked and now obviously a normal human. Gabriel quickly bundled him up in his coat and hugged him protectively. The blond stuck out his hands and tested, if he could take the ring off. It slipped from his finger effortlessly.

The Queen, seeing that he held no more power over him, shrieked in fury and … wait, was that _anguish_?

But then the yellow-haired faerie with the ice-blue eyes – probably the Queen Dowager – put a hand on his shoulder from behind and said something in a language Gabriel didn't understand.

The dark-haired faerie took a deep breath and composed himself. Then he smiled grotesquely.

"Congratulations!", he purred sardonically and his glowing acid green eyes were full of hatred. "You caught yourself one stately groom! Curse you, Gabriel John Utterson! May you suffer a horrible death! My fairest companion, taken away by a mere mortal man in a girl's body! And _you_!", he turned to Henry, "If I had seen this night coming, I would have turned your eyeballs into wood!"

Henry glared at him and responded by throwing the ring at him.

The Queen of the Fae caught it and stared at the blond. For a second, his hateful, angry grimace slipped and Gabriel caught sight of something that looked suspiciously like grief.

The dark-haired faerie gave off one last terrible shriek and glared at the black-haired man.

"This is _your_ fault! But do enjoy dealing with his issues _and_ the bastard he put in you and think of me, when you gaze into his lovely brown eyes!"

Gabriel tightened his protective hug and snarled: "With all due respect, your Majesty, you're an arsehole and you brought this upon yourself! You abducted Henry and coerced him into becoming your sex slave, he owes you _nothing_!"

The Queen responded with a "Tsk!", then turned his back on them and returned to continue the procession.

It was only after the figures were out of sight, that the two men relaxed.

Henry took the other's hand and kissed each finger. "My hero. My saviour. I am yours."

Gabriel grinned. "Let's go home, you damsel in distress. It's cold and you're still wet and half naked. The next months will be busy. We're going to be parents and you'll need legal papers."

"I know – wait, did you just call me a damsel in distress?!"

* * *

_*shell shock - an old word for PTSD, used esp. for the war traumata of WWI soldiers_

_**Unseelie - "Unhallowed/Unholy", a Northern/Middle English word for dark, malevolent faeries_


End file.
